Book Club Picks for April 2026
Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: Praise by Robert Hass
The book: Black. Single. Mother. by Jamilah Lemieux
The book: Mothers and Other Strangers by Corey Ann Haydu
Our reviewer says: “Haydu’s wonderful adult debut explores the interwoven lives of two families.... It’s a beautiful tale of complicated friendships.” Read more.
The book: Decent People by De’Shawn Charles Winslow
Our reviewer says: “Winslow chronicles the aftermath of a triple homicide that rocks a segregated Southern community in his dynamic latest.... As a character-driven mystery, it delivers the goods.” Read more.
Belletrist and Good Housekeeping Book Club
The book: The Fountain by Casey Scieszka
Our reviewer says: “The riveting debut by Scieszka sees a 213-year-old woman set out to uncover the cause of her eternal youth so she can finally die in peace.” Read more.
The book: The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams
Our reviewer says: “Williams follows several generations of Black women through slavery and the Jim Crow era into the present in her stirring latest.... This epic tale of resilience will move readers.” Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Our reviewer says: “A tradwife influencer gets trapped inside the harsh life of an early-19th-century homesteader in Burke’s crafty and cutting debut.... Burke is off to an auspicious start.” Read more.
Good Morning America YA Book Club
The book: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Our reviewer says: “The African diaspora blends with Arthurian legend in Deonn’s dynamic YA fantasy debut, reminiscent of City of Bones.” Read more.
The book: Chain of Ideas by Ibram X. Kendi
Our reviewer says: “Great replacement theory is the ideological beating heart of the new authoritarianism sweeping the globe, according to this brilliant and eye-opening study.... It adds up to a rousing call for solidarity across lines of class and race in order to fight fascism.” Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: Dog by Yishay Ishi Ron, trans. by Yardenne Greenspan
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: As a Jew by Sarah Hurwitz
Our reviewer says: “Former White House speechwriter Hurwitz makes a full-throated case for Judaism’s relevance in an increasingly secular and often openly antisemitic world.... The result is an important and energetic analysis of what it means to be Jewish in America today.” Read more.
The book: James by Percival Everett
Our reviewer says: “As in his classic novel Erasure, Everett portrays in this ingenious retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a Black man who’s mastered the art of minstrelsy to get what he needs from gullible white people.... Everett has outdone himself.” Read more.
The book: Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
Our reviewer says: “Bestseller Dinniman creatively tweaks sci-fi tropes in this addictive war story.... Fans will not be disappointed.” Read more.
The book: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Our reviewer says: “What does one make of a man forced to murder dozens of women in order to save a city from a curse—who then stops killing, dooming the city anyway, because he’s fallen in love? It’s a tricky ethical conundrum to build a love story on, and Ahdieh’s debut, a reimagining of the tale of Scheherazade, dances around it.” Read more.
The book: The Roots of Heaven by Romain Gary
The book: Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
The book: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Our reviewer says: “Nguyen’s poignant debut captures the perspectives of, and essence of the bond between, a parent and child, proving that language—and love—can transcend words.” Read more.
The book: Go Gentle by Maria Semple
Our reviewer says: “Semple delivers an energetic caper about a woman who gets roped into blue-blooded family drama and a potential smuggling scheme.... There’s plenty to enjoy in this rollicking adventure.” Read more.
The book: Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm by Isabella Tree
The book: Penitence by Kristin Koval
Our reviewer says: “A family deals with a mysterious act of fratricide in Koval’s harrowing debut.... Readers won’t be able to look away.” Read more.
The book: Upward Bound by Woody Brown
The book: Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
Our reviewer says: “Brown’s compassionate debut delves with great insight into the lives and minds of the disabled residents of an adult day care center in Southern California.... This captivating work illuminates a world too often ignored.” Read more.
The book: You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson
The book: Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth
The book: Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher
The book: What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri
Our reviewer says: “The unifying premise of Kolluri’s exquisite debut collection—stories narrated from various animal perspectives—might seem gimmicky or cute, but it’s neither.... This remarkable collection leaves an indelible mark.” Read more.
The book: TBA
The book: The Last Letters of Sally and Walter by Cammie McGovern
The book: Under Water by Tara Menon
Our reviewer says: “Menon’s dynamic debut traces a woman’s attempts to move on after surviving the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand.... This is sure to pull at the reader’s heartstrings.” Read more.